


On the Clock

by interabang



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Disturbing Themes, Gen, Horror, Self-Mutilation, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 03:11:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8429221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/interabang/pseuds/interabang
Summary: After committing a sudden string of violent acts, the Guardians vanish. Bereet investigates their destruction and disappearance, starting from their encounter with a being called the Neje.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, **HungryHufflepuff** , for your help with this!

“Hello? Yeah, this is him.

“Okay, good. Two things: one, don’t print my name; and two... Look, all I’ve got is about three dozen units, so I’m gonna want the transfer up front. Frangmon must’ve told you I’m good for it, or else you wouldn’t have bothered calling, right?

“Got it. Damn, you’re fast. Yeah, so, okay. The fabled Guardians, those guys what saved Xandar and then pulled that stunt on Gortax, rescued a fourth of its population from that skeleton whale shark? You know they robbed an entire ship too, right? Started a few bar fights that ended up putting their owners out of business. I know them places weren’t too innocent either, but just so you know, they didn’t always smell like roses. But despite all that, they didn’t deserve what they got. If they got what they got.

“So, where does it all start… well.

“Ever heard of the Neje?”

 

* * *

 

 **Nova Corps report update** : Currently searching for Guardians. Initiating search of coordinates 340---, 4958--, and 112---- as this is the last known location of the _Milano_.

 

* * *

 

“Ever heard of the Neje?”

“No,” Bereet said after a moment's pause. “How do you spell that?”

Her informant spelled it out, then added, “Most people just say the name all by itself. I don't like that, I gotta say ‘the’ before it.”

“Any reason for that?”

He paused for a moment. It dragged out so long that Bereet was starting to wonder if she'd been scammed. It wouldn't be the first time, in her line of work.

“Are you still there?”

“Yeah,” he said after a while. “Uh... You probably won't believe me when I tell you this, but it feels... _wrong_ , saying the name all by itself. It’s mostly pronounced soft-like at the end, sometimes like the Nedge, I even heard it like the Neh-geh and the negg. Not a lot of people know about it to get the proper way to say it, but the less people know how, the better.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s... The stories are all different. Some say it’s a planet, others say it’s one of ’em Celestials that’re still alive. It’s way out there, in unplotted territory. And remember, this is all from second, third, fourth – hell, twentieth-party accounts. See, nobody who seen the Neje up close comes back the same.”

Bereet lifted her stylus from the tablet she was using to take notes, tapped a symbol on the bottom right, and watched idly as her own words became more legible and organized. “How so?”

She waited as her informant cleared his throat a couple of times, then spat out something. “Well, the experience of it, it, heh, does things to you. Fries your brain slowly, s’what some folks say. Makes you see things you shouldn’t, like your worst nightmares coming true. What little has been described of the Neje, it’s like a corpse what turned into a spiral over time. Black all over and just kind of floating around aimlessly, seems harmless enough until you come into contact with it. I’ve heard that it’s accidental, running into it, but others say it’s more like... _Calling_  you.”

Bereet stifled a sigh. If he was trying to creep her out, the only unsettling sensation she felt came from having transferred such a large amount of units. “Do you think this has anything to do with the Guardians using an Infinity Stone?”

“I don’t know about any of that. I’m just telling you what they probably ran into, made them all that way. And it…”

When he fell silent again, Bereet decided enough was enough. “Where is Yondu Udonta? He's had the most consistent communication with the _Milano's_ crew ever since they went AWOL on Nova Corps.”

She heard a lot of shifting over on the other line, and then, her informant finally croaked out, “Fifteen hundred more units, and I'll tell you where to find him.”

Bereet didn't hold back her exasperation this time. She blew out a long, harsh breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Tapped her stylus against the side of her tablet repeatedly as she considered ending the call and telling Tautzer this story was a wash.

“Fine. _Twelve_ hundred, and I can tell you he ain't far from our planet. Boss - I mean, the old boss, he don't travel around so much these days.”

Slowly, Bereet opened her eyes.

Her hand faltered for only a moment before she tapped the transfer button.

 

* * *

 

Date: _Rasparth_  Cycle 4.5 M  
Coordinates: Sector Ψ2T46  
Sender: _Ravager Y-2_  
Receiver: _Milano_

 

 **UDONTA** : Quill! I told you, didn't I? I said —

 **SUBJECT 89P13** : — Ah, shut your pie hole.

 **UDONTA** : Don’t you go where I think you're goin’! Ain’t nobody went there didn’t come back out the same! Quill!

[STATIC]

 **UDONTA** : _Peter_!

 

* * *

 

Bereet stopped the audio recording and leaned back in her chair, reveling in the way her spine cracked a bit under the shift in movement. She did a few stretches, then shook out each of her knuckles, and then her thumb. After rubbing her eyelids for a bit, she peered at the three-dimensional hologram of her interview's recorded audio.

Her informant’s voice had clearly been distorted over his call to her, to hide his identity. She didn’t care. So long as he'd given her what she wanted. Not his jabber about a ghost planet, or whatever he was going on about. That was the kind of story you'd swap over dinner and drinks with your friends once a year, on the eve of Pylancea.

No, he'd given her something far more valuable: a lead. Udonta would be able to give her actual facts for her column. He actually knew Quill and his gang.

Was ‘gang’ even the right word, though? Should they be called friends? Mercenaries? Rebels who helped those in need? No one could pin them down, not even Bereet - and she had also _known_ Peter, but in a very different way.

From what she'd heard about Peter and his crew, they were rough around the edges, but not evil. Even the anonymous informant had stressed several times throughout his interview that the Guardians weren’t bad guys, not really. Which is what made their recent behavior all the stranger.

It would make for an interesting story, at least. Bereet yawned and played one of the audio files again, picking up her stylus.

 

* * *

 

Date: 3.42.0034  
Coordinates: Sector Θ1P93  
Sender: _Yitawan-23_  
Receiver: _Milano_

 

 **YITAWAN-23** : Quill! My man! Haven’t seen you in a while. Ship’s looking pretty sharp. How’s it going?

[STATIC]

 **YITAWAN-23** : Can’t make you out over this damn… Hold on. There. That should help.

 **MILANO** : _…Ga-cha-ka… Oogah-oogah…_

 **YITAWAN-23** : Must be an issue on your side.

 **MILANO** : _…Can’t stop this feeling. Deep inside of me…_

 **YITAWAN-23** : Hello?

 **MILANO** : _Girl, you just don’t realize… What you do to me._

 **YITAWAN-23** : Uh… Quill? I can finally hear ya, but you mind turning it down a little?  
  
**MILANO** : _When you hold me, in your arms so tight –_

 **YITAWAN-23** : Okay, I get it. Still a funny guy, Quill. Look, I’ll talk to you some other time, okay?

 

* * *

 

Bereet wasn’t at all surprised to find Udonta at the counter of the bar, halfway through a bottle.

She _was_ surprised to find him all alone.

He was a pathetic sight. Her nose crinkled up as she took a seat beside him.

“What happened to your crew?” she asked, tabling her disgust.

Yondu waved a dismissive hand. “Let go of ‘em. Don’t need ‘em no more.”

“Why?”

Yondu shook his head and looked off to the side.

“Mr. Udonta, I’m here for the communications you shared with Peter Quill’s ship, the _Milano_. I was told I could find you here, and that you'd share the videos with me.” 

Udonta slowly turned his gaze up at her, fixing her with watery, bloodshot eyes. He was stinking drunk, but there was no mistaking that sense of loss. Grief.

It was a simple enough opening. Bereet softened her voice as she said, “I’m sure Peter would have wanted you to help him.” She placed one hand on Udonta's shoulder, gently, but not so much that he wouldn't get the wrong idea.

Udonta shook off her hand. “Don’t you tell me that. Quill don’t... He don’t need my help no more.” His stool scraped back along the filthy ground as he stumbled away from the bar counter, then he immediately pitched forward. Bereet instinctively reached out and grabbed onto the back of his jacket, barely managing to keep him from falling on his face.

 _The story, Bereet, always remember the story_ , she reminded herself as she felt a sudden surge of pity, then glared over at the bartender who was leaning against the wall, watching. “A little help would be nice.”

The bartender shrugged, then started inspecting the seven nails on her hand. Bereet groaned, pulled out a handful of crystalized units from her pocket, and dumped them on the counter, still holding onto Udonta's jacket with her free hand, her arm trembling from the strain.

The bartender smirked, rose up on her tree trunk-sized legs, and started helping Bereet guide Yondu out of the filthy joint.

 

* * *

 

 

 **Nova Corps report update** : Guardians sighted on Zel’, the fourth most populated continent on Uowth. Civilian eyewitnesses claim to have seen Groot “hand a child a shriveled flower. The child started crying, and Groot then wandered off.”

Nova commanding officers should report to Zel’ immediately.

 

* * *

 

Udonta slumped into his captain's chair as Bereet asked for the password to his communications archives. He mumbled, “Mattel,” before slumping sideways and starting to snore.

She searched for “ _Milano_ ,” went six videos back and then skipped ahead two, after seeing the first few seconds of first a smiling, pleased Peter - _the story, Bereet, it was just one night of fun. Don't you dare get disarmed by that smile again_ - and then an irritated image of Peter, who was arguing with Udonta about who saved whom on Xandar.

The next video file was a little boring and almost uninformative, but Bereet knew it was where everything started.

Peter was rolling his eyes as Udonta seemed to be lecturing him.

“Come on, I know you liked that,” Peter said. “You gotta admit, it was a good joke.”

The big guy in the group, who must’ve been Drax, stalked up next to Peter and asked if there were any problems. Udonta sneered at him, and soon all three of them were bickering.

Bereet sighed and doubled, then tripled the video's speed - and nearly cracked the screen slamming her hand on the ‘pause’ button when she noticed something...  _shift..._  in Peter and Drax’s eyes.

She rewound.

They weren’t even talking right before it happened. A female voice - Gamora, yes, that was her name, she had been one of Thanos's abducted kin - was yelling at Peter and Drax off-screen to stop arguing like children, and Peter was needed at the helm. She said something about Subject - no, Rocket - finding their coordinates and Udonta said, with a little less anger and a little more worry in his tone, “You lost?”

“No. No, we’re not lost,” Peter said. “We’re just, uh... it’s taking us a while to reach civilization, that’s all.”

“Well, you know what to do in times like this. I taught you well, after all.”

Bereet was starting to think her eyes had been playing tricks on her, when she heard Rocket shout out in triumph. “Got it! We’re in Quadrant —”

There. She saw it.

The color in Peter’s and Drax’s eyes changed from their natural dark shade to a rich violet that spanned from irises to pupils, but neither of them made any sort of indication that they were aware of it. Udonta had seemed to notice it too, because his tone grew even more worried. “Maybe you should head the other direction.”

“We’ll be fine, Yondu. We’ve come this far,” Peter said, his eyes back to their normal color as he ended the transmission.

Yondu’s third to last video call was where things started to get even stranger. Bereet noticed the date was one half cycle before the _Milano_ ’s crew disappeared. Peter was holding the side of his head and his eyes were closed. Yondu was speaking to him, but Peter seemed distracted.

“— Wouldn’t have even saved Xandar without me and mine’s help. Boy! You listening to me?”

“Yeah,” Peter groaned. “Yup. Loud and clear, emphasis on the ‘loud.’ Look, what matters is the Infinity Stone is safe and sound. We’ll, uh, get you a Stone from Azaras or something. Less...” He paused, pressing the heel of his palm into his temple as he winced. “Less death and destruction, more shiny for your dashboard. All right?”

“No, it ain’t all right! What do you think I should tell the others? Think they’ll be happy with ‘safe and sound’ when they’re hungry and need to stock up on ammo?”

“I – I don’t know, Yondu. Look, I’ve gotta go. We’ll talk about this some other time.”

“We talk about it _now_ , Quill, or so help me —”

“— Head’s up,” another voice called from behind Peter. Judging by the jargon, Bereet could tell it was Rocket. “We’re heading toward something, all right.”

“Quill! Don’t you hang up on me.” Udonta went on berating Peter, but the volume on his voice dipped drastically. Bereet noticed that as soon as Peter opened his eyes and glanced behind him, a shadow seemed to fall over the entire ship. The transmission ended on Peter’s side, and Udonta cursed loudly. The present Udonta jerked in his captain’s chair at hearing his own voice, and when Bereet turned to look at him, he slumped back down over the arm of his chair, muttering something that sounded like, “Why couldn’t you jus’ _listen_?”

The fourth-to-last transmission was Peter leaning over his ship. He looked pale, underweight, and he was shivering. Udonta had apparently bypassed all forms of tough love and asked him how he was feeling, what he was doing, where he was. Peter ignored him, looking as though it took all his concentration to hold himself upright. He was sweating through his shirt.

“Yondu,” he said, his voice cracking between his deep, ragged breaths. “Don’t look for us. Okay?”

When he started to turn around and face the camera, the transmission ended.

Bereet suddenly felt as though the Ravager's ship had been plummeted into ice. She shivered slightly and chanced another look at Udonta.

She raised her hand to play the last recording, but faltered for a moment.

Did she really want to know? Was her story that important?

 _Neje_ , she thought, then shook it away as she pushed the ‘play’ button.

 

* * *

 

Date: Star Zone T-603  
Coordinates: Sector Δ9E31  
Sender: _M-Ship Eternal_  
Receiver: _Milano_

 

 **M-SHIP ETERNAL** :  _Milano_ , come in. I repeat, come in. This is Denarian Auz, with the Nova Corps. We have received orders from Nova Prime to bring you into custody.

 **MILANO** : I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.

 **M-SHIP ETERNAL** : Your entire crew has committed serious acts of disturbing the peace across the galaxy. You have been —

 **MILANO** : — I tried to stop him, but I couldn’t.

 **M-SHIP ETERNAL** : Stop who?  _Milano_ , can you hear me? 

 **MILANO** : He told me he would cut a hole in my stomach, pull out my intestines, and wrap them around my neck if I didn’t do it. I was ten years old. I didn’t want to. Please, don’t tell him. Don’t. 

 **M-SHIP ETERNAL** **:** What in the —

[STATIC]

 **MILANO** : Don't tell him. Please.

 **M-SHIP ETERNAL** _:_ By all the stars, help us.

 **MILANO:** Don’t tell him I SAID THAT.

[STATIC]

 

* * *

 

“Udonta. _Mr. Udonta_.”

He jerked awake, dropped his bottle, and peered at Bereet through half-closed lids. “The hell you still doin’ here?”

“You’re the only lead I have. I need to retrace the Guardians' steps, find out where they went while they were ripping their way through the galaxy.”

His laugh had no mirth.  “Ain't no way no one could retrace their steps. Quill and 'em, they're gone. The Neje took ’em. Made ’em its toys, turned it just as soulless and destructive as it.”

Bereet was really beginning to hate that word - especially the way it actually started to creep up in her mind without warning.  

“No,” she said.  “Peter, he... He wouldn't let that happen.”

Udonta widened one of his eyes to scrutinize her. “You're not just reportin’ this story, huh? You want to find out what happened to Quill.”

“No,” she said, so firmly even she believed it. “That's not what this is about.”

“Sure, it ain't.”

Bereet glared down at him for a few moments, then said, “One thousand units. You let me use your ship, take me where I want to go. Then you can crawl inside the biggest bottle you can find and I promise, I will leave you alone.”

Udonta sighed. Groaning, he stood up. Bereet was hoping she wouldn't have to keep him from falling on his face again, but he stood on his legs, looking the most sober she'd ever seen him.

“Fuckin' Celestials,” he said, and headed over to the control panel.

Bereet followed him, nearly stepping on his heels. “Is that what this thing is? This...” she paused, then squared her shoulders. “This _Neje_?”

A shiver crawled down her spine. She chose to ignore it.

Udonta waved a hand as he flipped several switches and started cranking a large, dirty metal wheel. “That’s what I grew up hearin’. Didn’t even bother to wonder why Moran had become a ghost world. Damn Nadge, or whatever it’s called, probably obliterated it.

“Now,” he said, turning to face Bereet, “If you're sure ’bout this - and you better damn well be, if we're seein’ this through all the way - I'm gonna want those thousand units up front.”

 

* * *

 

[Written excerpt from what little was recovered and translated from the  _Chyhz's_  ruined records, dated 09.50.0012 as surmised by Nova Corps historical theologian.]

 

_— however, the only textual source available had been blotted with ink, and even scholars are uncertain about the last four letters, so it was assumed to read as N’edge._

_Some theorize that the ink blot is not accidental, but instead, necessary._

 

* * *

 

Bereet's eyes swept all around the nearly barren weapons shop.

Udonta had said he'd take her here, although she insisted on driving. He was still sleeping on his ship, and by that she figured he meant he was recovering from his hangover. 

“Yeah, they nearly cleaned me out,” the storeowner spat, shaking Bereet out of her thoughts. “Bunch of bastards. I don’t care who they saved, they’ve got hell to pay when the Nova Corps tracks down their sorry asses!”

Bereet bit back a sigh and raised one of her arms to point at the two security cameras. “Do you mind?”

“You got papers?” the weapons dealer, Fotyuna, asked, her three eyes darting back and forth from the door to Bereet.

She mentally cursed. “Yes, here.”

Fotyuna held up one of her wrists, on which there was a small, blue screen with symbols indicating a deposit account. Bereet tapped in her account number, successfully transferring about two hundred units.

Fotyuna looked at the screen, snorted, and wiped her three hands on a rag before leading Bereet to the back room.

She watched the surveillance footage, her brow creasing with every passing moment. The Guardians were in and out in the span of time it took Bereet to brush her teeth.

They acted less like a group of comrades, and more like a machine.

Bereet rewound to the part in the footage where Groot hung back a little behind the others, apparently saying something to Fotyuna as she screamed profanities, waving her arms around but noticeably keeping her distance. Groot began to trudge away when Bereet asked, “So, how did he say it?”

“Say what?” Fotyuna rubbed the back of her head, keeping one eye directed past Bereet, toward the front of the store.

“The tall tree man. How did he say, ‘I am Groot?’ Did he seem threatening - or scared? Like he was trying to give you a message?”

“No. His voice was low, rumbling. Didn’t seem menacing or whatever, just like he was saying a fact.”

Bereet sighed. She wasn't looking forward to getting chewed out by Tautzer for wasting so many units for just one column - and in her case, ‘chewed up’ could be taken quite literally.

“He didn’t say “I am Groot,” either. Said something different.”

That got Bereet’s attention. “Are you sure? That’s what he always says. That is the _only_ thing he says.”

“No,” Fotyuna said, touching her chin and directing all three of her eyes somewhere behind Bereet. “This was different. I wasn’t really paying attention, on account of, you know, them picking my entire store clean. Fucking vultures.”

“Please, try to remember,” Bereet said, then, when Fotyuna raised all of her brows, Bereet quickly transferred another 250 units.

“Um... Oh, yeah! It’s coming back to me now,” she said, and Bereet rolled her eyes. “Can’t tell if I’m saying this the right way, but it sounded like, ‘Nedge.’ Any idea what that means?”

Bereet turned her eyes away from the shopkeeper back to the viewscreen. Groot was frozen on it, halfway out the door.

He was looking directly up at the camera.

“No,” she said quietly. “Thank you for your time.”

 

* * *

 

Date: Ipahl Cycle 5.2M  
Coordinates: Sector Ω1B75  
Sender: _Aew'rath_  
Receiver: _Milano_

 

 **SUBJECT 89P13** : Lookin’ good.

[STATIC]

 **SUBJECT 89P13** : Yeah, you. Who else would I be talkin’ to? And don’t worry, your pal didn't run off. That lovely neighbor of yours shocked him to death. Made sure to draw it out, too. But you knew that, didn't ya?

 **DENARIAN RAZ** : Rocket? Rocket, are you currently —

[STATIC]

 **DENARIAN RAZ** : Shit, something just flew at the screen! Large and black, and... wet. It's...

[STATIC]

 **DENARIAN RAZ** : Is that his  _blood_? He just - I think he - 

[STATIC]

 **DENARIAN RAZ** : No, sir, you're not listening, he  _CUT OFF HIS OWN FUCKING TAIL!_

 ** **SUBJECT 89P13** : **Yeah. I know you. Quill said you were a screamer.

 

 

* * *

 

As she slept in the least creaky bed on the Ravager vessel she could find, Bereet dreamed of the Stone. All she could see was a bright, shining violet light.

It pulsed.

And pulsed.

 _Neje_.

 

* * *

 

 **Date** : 3.54.0096

 

**Bereet,**

**I have forwarded the narrative version of my interview with Nebula which was conducted on Xandar, in the prison.**

**I swear it's not embellished. I've attached the audio recording, you can compare it with the narrative. I usually don't write like this, but it just sort of Neje came out. I hope it's detailed enough for you to include in your article. Two-page spread, right? I'll be looking forward to those units. Maybe even a book deal!**

**Thanks,**

**-Denarian S.**

 

_We found Nebula’s head first. Then her arms, and her torso. Legs came last._

_It took a long time, but we put her back together._

_I was able to interview her a few hours after that. It was supposed to be a debriefing - more like an interrogation - but I confess I wasn't acting as professionally as I should have._

_“Who did this to you?” I asked Nebula._

_“Who else? Dear sister of mine... They’ll never find that hand, though,” Nebula said, grinning. “Gamora changed again – she was more like she was in the old days.” Nebula propped her newly reattached feet up on the interrogation table. Just the way she looked at me made me nervous, and I hate myself for it. She wasn't just looking at me; it's more like she was..._ watching _me. Like I was an exhibit at a zoo, and Nebula wasn’t the one in captivity._

_“She didn’t say anything as she did it,” Nebula continued. “She was heartless. She took her time twisting my body apart, piece by piece, leaving my head for last as they flew around and dumped parts of me on different planets. That idiot who calls himself The Destroyer wanted to airlock my forearms, but Gamora wanted me to know that I could be reattached.”_

_“What about Quill and Groot? Did they join in?”_

_“I never saw the tree. Smelled him, though. Like rotting wood. The Terran never said anything. He sat in the corner and watched Gamora as she worked the whole time, never moving, never speaking. It was almost unsettling. The rodent kicked my head out onto the sand. I rolled for miles._

_She grinned then, parting her lips in a sick, twisted smile that made something drop in my gut._

_“I loved every second of it,” Nebula said, her expression rapturous. “It was getting boring, just running and hiding. Gamora told me, ‘One day, they’ll put you back together,’ as she held my head between her hands. I asked her, ‘Who?’ before she handed me to the animal.” Nebula fell silent then, and I felt the temperature in the room drop as time ticked by, Nebula obviously lost in thought._

_“And what did she say?” I finally prompted. When I closed my eyes, it felt like sand was scraping my pupils. “Who would put you back together?”_

_Nebula tilted her head back and looked up at the ceiling. “Endren.”_

_“And what does that mean? Who are they?”_

_Nebula didn't say anything. She only gazed upward._

_After a long moment of silence that became far more uncomfortable than I'd like to admit, I asked her, “It didn’t disturb you? Being taken apart piece by piece, by your own sister?”_

_“Not in the slightest. And it's like I said: that wasn’t Gamora. But whoever she was, I liked her.” Nebula shrugged and added, “When you track her and the others down, bring her to me so I can take her apart myself. I’ll make it last twice as long.”_

 

* * *

 

“Did you find anything?” Bereet asked Udonta, yawning, as she padded out from the hallway of the crew quarters. He was sitting at his chair, sober and looking like he'd actually gone and washed himself up. He was busily tapping away at the buttons on his control pad, muttering to himself.

She prodded him again, drawing closer, and he turned sharply to face her, then frowned.

“What?”

Udonta looked at her with an odd expression. “You came in sometime last night... morning... whatever. And you were jus’ sitting here, in my chair. Looking at the screen.”

“I never came in here,” Bereet said slowly, the hairs on the back of her neck rising. “I was sleeping the whole time.”

_Neje._

“Well, you must’ve gotten up at one point, ’cause you were lookin’ at a page, clear as a Kmusk's eyeball. I asked if you found anything and you didn’t answer me, you just got up out my seat and went back to the crew quarters.”

Bereet felt as if the space around the ship was shrinking in on her. Her breath quickened. Running a hand through her unruly hair, she sputtered, “That’s... I don’t...”

“Well, it don’ make much difference, anyhow, so long as you don’t sit in my chair again,” Udonta said curtly, swiveling around in his chair to gaze at the star system displayed on the display screen.

A bright light glowed like a beacon in a nearby quadrant.

Bereet rubbed her eyes, shaking her head to force herself out of her daze. “Is that...”

“Yup,” Udonta said, grinning for the first time since Bereet had met him, “I found ’em. I’m comin’, Quill. Be there ’fore you know it.”

He plugged in the coordinates, and Bereet didn't ask him how he knew where they were.

She was curious, for a moment, if their eyes had changed color for a split second, but there weren’t any mirrors around.

 _Neje_ , Bereet thought, staring at the glowing dot on the screen, the word pulsing over and over in her brain. In her mind’s eye, she couldn't help but see the word separating into letters that each formed their own meanings, their own constellations.

 _Neje_.

 

* * *

 

Bereet pushed the ‘play’ button on the last video.

Quill was standing in front of the screen. Bereet flinched, having expected to see blood and guts all over the place, but it was just him.

And his ship. The inside of it looked... _bigger_ than it was before, somehow.

He had his mask on, the ‘Star-Lord’ mask, she’d heard it was called. He also seemed to be back in peak physical condition: no shaking, no sweating, back to normal weight.

And he was just staring at the camera in silence, breathing, the red eyes of his mask glowing brightly.

On the audio track, Yondu was calling out to him, as usual. He seemed mostly angry, shouting swears and threats, but Bereet noticed the undercurrent of panic in his voice. He told Peter to quit what he was doing – all those robberies, that massacre on _Malar_ – and to meet him in the bar at which Bereet had found him.

Quill just kept right on staring.

 

* * *

 

_Neje._

Pressure.

Air.

She couldn't see it, but she could _feel_ it. They were getting closer to them. Closer to _it_.

_Her?_

_So this is what it was like, flying to your doom_ , Bereet thought. And at the same time, it felt like flying back home.

They were almost there. So close she swore she could see the outline of a dark, twisting shape.

And then...

The squeezing sensation on her chest, in her mind. The intense heat, the twitching, her racing heart...

The pressure _lifted_.

Bereet exhaled, the longest breath she'd released in her entire life. Her muscles relaxed. Her heart slowed.

Some strange sensation flooded her veins. She glanced down at her hand. Her skin looked brighter than normal, like it usually did when she was particularly happy.

The word. The word that had been running in circles around in her brain.

It was gone.

“What _was_ that?” she asked, whirling around to face Udonta, her lips widening into a smile she couldn't control.  “Do you have any idea?”

His eyes wide and watery, his back slumped all the way against his chair, he looked like he aged about ten years since plugging in the coordinates.

But he also looked as euphoric as she felt.

“Mr. Udonta?” Bereet asked slowly, cautiously, joy and relief and wonder pulsing through her entire system, flushing out the Neje. “Are you all right?”

“The boy called me that too, once,” he said, slowly, a tear trickling down his cheek. “Said it after I saved his life from a pack of... Whatever. Doesn't matter what they were. Said he'd return the favor to me, one day.”

He turned his gaze up to Bereet, and said, “You better end up with a fuckin’ book about all of this. Peter and them, they deserve it. Was probably the hardest thing any one of us sad, miserable saps could even imagine doing.

“They all deserve it.”

After a moment, Bereet nodded, and together, she and Yondu turned to face the display screen of stars, the previously glowing one having disappeared entirely from the map.

 

* * *

 

Bereet burst into Tautzer’s office, hugging her tablet to her chest.

Tautzer looked up at her and to Bereet's relief, she seemed pleased.

“Everything ready to go?” she asked

“Yes, I think so. I’m ready to run the story.” She handed over her tablet and Tautzer gave it a cursory scroll.

“Well, this is... strange, definitely, but we’ve got more to run on than anyone else. You did good.” She handed back Bereet's tablet. “Relax, take a break. Expect double the usual pay tomorrow morning. You bide your time, you might even see a book come out of all this.”

“Thank you,” she said breathlessly, though her gratitude was not directed anywhere _near_  any units. For the first time in ages, that was far from her mind. If the Guardians really did manage to snap out of it long enough to sacrifice themselves and destroy the Neje, if they saved Bereet and everyone else who heard of the tale... Well, they deserved to have their story be told.

She turned to leave, and Tautzer stopped her.

“Yes?” Bereet asked.

“Take a week,” Tautzer said, after a long moment of scrutinizing Bereet. “Get some sleep, you... You look like you need it.”

“I will. Gladly,” Bereet said with a smile, and headed out of the office, eager to enjoy the bright clear day outdoors.

 

* * *

 

Sitting on the Cydilt tube on the way back to her home, Bereet couldn’t help smiling as she closed out the window of her article. First page news, with her name proudly displayed on the byline. She already had to start deflecting calls. All of that could come later. For now, she wanted to savor this moment.

“Wait,” the Xandarian passenger next to her said, ”could you bring that back up?”

She tapped the screen to bring back the front page again, and the other passenger looked down on it again. “Oh, yeah, I remember them. Saved the galaxy again, apparently?”

“Yes. I think they did,” she said, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

“Hmm. That's strange.”

“The story? Yes, but it’s nothing to worry about. They... they took care of it. The Neje, Celestial, whatever that thing was. All the evil things they did, that wasn't them. I am sure of it.”

“No, that’s not it. Huh.”

Bereet blinked at the other passenger in confusion. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s just...” He excused himself and stood up, jostling past other commuters as the transport tube slowed to a stop and the doors opened. “I have to go.”

“What is it?” She followed after him, pushing past the crowd. “Please, tell me.”

He turned around reluctantly as they stood outside the tube, its glass doors closing and the cars whizzing past at lightning speed. “ _Endren Neje_. I only heard it like, once before, my great-grandmother telling a story when I was a kid. But I do recognize it.”

“What does it mean?” Bereet asked, barely aware of the words forming in her mouth, which suddenly felt dry and cavernous.

“Well, the translation isn’t very exact. It’s nothing like your language, or mine,” the Xandarian said, tapping at the translator implant chip above his ear. “Damn, even _saying_ it gives me chills. Supposedly knowing the real name, saying it even, is supposed to let them hone in on your location, find you. Make you seek them out, so they can…”

“Yes?” Bereet prompted, running out of patience.

“So they can consume you. First your mind, then your body. Every part of you. My grandmother said your soul, too, if you’ll let them.”

“I don’t have time for this.” Bereet grabs him by the lapels of his sleek white shirt. “Even if the translation’s off, what does ‘Endren Neje’ _mean_?”

He winced. “Why’d you have to go and say it, too?”

She pulled him so that his face was almost touching hers. “Answer me!”

He sighed, looking into her eyes, and said, “Endren is _them_. They're connected, you know, the ones that are still alive. The Celestials. Neje means...”

“What?”

“In the simplest terms I can think of, it means ‘sister.’ Beloved sister.”                    


End file.
